--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: literature can very well describe the…" description: "\"“literature can very well describe the absurd, but it should never become absurd itself”\" — Isaac Bashevis Singer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_absurd_literature-can-very-well-describe-the-ab_2788114.jpg" --- # literature can very well describe the absurd, but it… ![“literature can very well describe the absurd, but it should never become absurd itself” quote by Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_absurd_literature-can-very-well-describe-the-ab_2788114.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_absurd_literature-can-very-well-describe-the-ab_2788114.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_absurd_literature-can-very-well-describe-the-ab_2788114.jpg) > ““literature can very well describe the absurd, but it should never become absurd itself”” [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature should depict absurdity without becoming absurd itself. **In simple terms:** Literature must stay grounded despite absurd themes. Key Takeaway Write absurd scenes with clear purpose. Themes literature absurdity clarity Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - fiction writing - editing - literary criticism Key Concepts narrative discipline artistic integrity tone management Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance absurdity and meaning? - When does absurdity enhance a story? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on absurdity can alienate readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd because we must believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/we-no-longer-believe-because-it-is-absurd-it-is-absurd-because-we/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [There obviously are a hell of a lot of people that love Lady Gaga. But to me, she's been the theatre of the absurd.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butch-trucks/there-obviously-are-a-hell-of-a-lot-of-people-that-love-lady-gaga-but/) [Butch Trucks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butch-trucks/) > [Setting up absurd worlds with rules to violate - it's one of the things I hope to achieve with my work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimenez-lai/setting-up-absurd-worlds-with-rules-to-violate-it-s-one-of-the-things/) [Jimenez Lai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimenez-lai/) > [A man who has become conscious of the absurd is for ever bound to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/a-man-who-has-become-conscious-of-the-absurd-is-for-ever-bound-to-it/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [There's no end to the absurd things people will do trying to make life mean something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wharton/there-s-no-end-to-the-absurd-things-people-will-do-trying-to-make/) [William Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wharton/) > [“The irrational, the human nostalgia, and the absurd that is born of their encounter - these are the three characters in the drama that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-irrational-the-human-nostalgia-and-the-absurd-that-is-born-of/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I am an absurd idealist. But I believe that all that must come true. For, unless it comes true, the world will be laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-charteris/i-am-an-absurd-idealist-but-i-believe-that-all-that-must-come-true/) [Leslie Charteris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-charteris/) > [The world in which we were called to exist was an absurd world, and there was no other in which we could take refuge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-world-in-which-we-were-called-to-exist-was-an-absurd-world-and/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The absurd man will not commit suicide; he wants to live, without relinquishing any of his certainty, without a future, without hope, without illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-absurd-man-will-not-commit-suicide-he-wants-to-live-without/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The feeling of absurdity does not spring from the mere scrutiny of a fact or an impression, but that it bursts from the comparison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-feeling-of-absurdity-does-not-spring-from-the-mere-scrutiny-of-a/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/there-is-nothing-so-absurd-that-some-philosopher-has-not-already-said/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/only-man-can-be-absurd-for-only-man-can-be-dignified/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Absurdity is what I like most in life, and there's humor in struggling in ignorance. If you saw a man repeatedly running into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/absurdity-is-what-i-like-most-in-life-and-there-s-humor-in-struggling/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) > [“We call love what binds us to certain creatures only by reference to a collective way of seeing for which books and legends are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/we-call-love-what-binds-us-to-certain-creatures-only-by-reference-to/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [When people conclude that all is futile, then the absurd becomes the norm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-crouch/when-people-conclude-that-all-is-futile-then-the-absurd-becomes-the/) [Stanley Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-crouch/) ## More by Isaac Bashevis Singer > [Every body resisted (the slaughterer) in its own fashion, tried to escape and seemed to argue with the Creator to its last breath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/every-body-resisted-the-slaughterer-in-its-own-fashion-tried-to/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/people-often-say-that-humans-have-always-eaten-animals-as-if-this-is/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/as-long-as-people-will-shed-the-blood-of-innocent-creatures-there-can/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [There must be a way for man to attain all possible pleasures, all the powers and knowledge that nature can grant him, and still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/there-must-be-a-way-for-man-to-attain-all-possible-pleasures-all-the/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [What nature creates has eternity in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/what-nature-creates-has-eternity-in-it/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [“The rabbi thought he saw an expression of perplexity in the golem's eyes. It seemed to the rabbi that his eyes were asking, Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/the-rabbi-thought-he-saw-an-expression-of-perplexity-in-the-golem-s/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [“If you hear I'm dead, don't come to my funeral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/if-you-hear-i-m-dead-don-t-come-to-my-funeral/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/if-you-keep-saying-things-are-going-to-be-bad-you-have-a-good-chance/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Men want all women to lie down as whores and get up as virgins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/men-want-all-women-to-lie-down-as-whores-and-get-up-as-virgins/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise... Because this is how life is full of surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/a-story-to-me-means-a-plot-where-there-is-some-surprise-because-this/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Night is a time of rigor, but also of mercy. There are truths which one can see only when it’s dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/night-is-a-time-of-rigor-but-also-of-mercy-there-are-truths-which-one/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [No doubt the world is entirely an imaginary world, but it is only once removed from the true world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/no-doubt-the-world-is-entirely-an-imaginary-world-but-it-is-only-once/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [It is a general rule that when the grain of truth cannot be found, men will swallow great helpings of falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/it-is-a-general-rule-that-when-the-grain-of-truth-cannot-be-found-men/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behaviour towards creatures, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/as-often-as-herman-had-witnessed-the-slaughter-of-animals-and-fish-he/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Sometimes love is stronger than a man's convictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/sometimes-love-is-stronger-than-a-man-s-convictions/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) [Explore all 169 Isaac Bashevis Singer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“literature can very well describe the absurd, but it should never become absurd itself”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isaac Bashevis Singer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/literature-can-very-well-describe-the-absurd-but-it-should-never/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/literature-can-very-well-describe-the-absurd-but-it-should-never/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_absurd_literature-can-very-well-describe-the-ab_2788114.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_absurd_literature-can-very-well-describe-the-ab_2788114.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_absurd_literature-can-very-well-describe-the-ab_2788114.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“literature can very well describe the absurd, but it should never become absurd itself” — Isaac Bashevis Singer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Isaac Bashevis Singer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“literature can very well describe the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/literature-can-very-well-describe-the-absurd-but-it-should-never/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/literature-can-very-well-describe-the-absurd-but-it-should-never/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```